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It’s that time of the month again, and my beauty boxes are starting to land! First to arrive this month was Birchbox who have collaborated with ‘Made in Chelsea’ star Millie Mackintosh for this summery pink box.

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I’m actually blogging this one on time as there have been no delays if you’re wondering why it’s already time for another Look Incredible box!

What’s in the box for the month of May?

Claire’s Accessories, Nail Polish x 3 in ‘Silver’, ‘Gold Glitter’ & ‘Rainbow Sparkles’Big chunks of glitter in a clear polish are not my cup of tea I’ll have to admit, I’ll probably pass those two on to someone who will get more enjoyment out of them. I’ll try out the silver for stamping as it’s a vibrant bright silver rather than a dull grey silver as many often are and it would create some great effects if it will stamp. Fingers crossed!

Bellapierre, Kabuki Brush
A small sized kabuki brush with a dinky handle which I think (although I could be wrong) is meant for applying Bellapierre mineral make-up. It has soft Taklon bristles and can of course be used for applying pretty much any blush or bronzer as well as mineral make-up. Very cute although with the tiny handle I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to put it!

Korres, Quercetin & Oak Anti-Aging Eye Primer
This primer alleges to be anti-aging and is enriched with the flavonoid quercetin which is an antioxidant, however, I cannot find any data on how well it is absorbed (if at all) through the skin. I’m confused by the addition of oak as this is an astringent and not particularly great for the skin to be honest, it often shows up in anti-acne products not anti-aging ones! This is possibly why Korres no longer seem to sell this primer themselves. Yep, Look Incredible have once again sent out a discontinued product. Thanks lads.

Bare Minerals, Ready Blush in ‘The French Kiss’ (worth £22)The best product in the box this month in my opinion is this blush. It’s very highly pigmented so you don’t need to apply very much at all – I’d probably use a big fluffy brush like the kabuki above rather than the little one in the compact to gently apply it on the apples of my cheeks for a pop of colour.

MAC cosmetics, Patentpolish Lip Pencil in ‘Clever’
Good to see a big brand like MAC in the box and I got a shade I will actually wear this month too! Unfortunately I’ll never be able to buy this gorgeous nude shade again though as it’s already been discontinued…

Overall View

Overall a much less disappointing box than last time and I am happy with these products but I can’t help but notice that discontinued content (the Korres Eye Primer and the particular shade of the MAC lip crayon) is once again a part of the box which is frankly just a bit weird.
The good news is that the Bare Minerals blush alone which is still current and sold at full price is worth the price of the box on it’s own.

Are you a ‘Look Incredible’ subscriber? What are your thoughts on them sending out old products?

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If you remember a few posts back I mentioned I was interested in trying out other beauty boxes, and, well I took the plunge and joined up with new start up ‘Look Incredible’. This is only the third or fourth box they’ve put out and they’ve had rave reviews on the previous editions.
So how does it look? Nice plain black box with no fancy printing or anything just a sticker on the lid with the ‘Look Incredible’ logo. No money wasted on the box – just how I like it! There’s a single sheet of product info (which unfortunately doesn’t quite fit into the box!) telling you what each of the products are, their recommended retail price and the total of the recommended prices to increase your perceived value of the box.

So what was in the March box, get on with it woman!

The Body Shop, White Musk Libertine EDT 60ml, RRP £16
Described as a bold new twist on musk, the twist as far as I can tell is that it doesn’t actually contain any musks! That’s what makes it loudly and proudly ‘Cruelty Free’. A pleasant if slightly sweet fragrance, very suited to summer.

Pupa, Pupalash Energiser mascara, RRP £19.99
Pupa are a new brand for me, I’m sure I’ve heard the name somewhere but I’ve never seen them for sale in any shops or tried any of their products before. This mascara is supposed to include a lash growth serum in its formula so as well as making your lashes look longer it will nourish them and encourage them to become actually longer – can’t wait to try this one out properly.

OPI Shatter nail polish in ‘Shatter the Scales’, RRP £8.99
OPI Shatter polishes are crackle coats which you apply over the top of another colour. The crackle or ‘shatter’ coat then quickly separates and creates a kind of broken paving slab effect allowing the colour you painted first to show through the shatter polish colour. ‘Shatter the Scales’ is a colour right up my street, it’s a very dark sea green glitter.

BareMinerals, Ready Eyeshadow 2.0 in ‘The Phenomenon’, RRP £20An eye shadow duo with the usual annoying sponge applicator (seriously why do brands still waste money on putting these in?). One shade is a fairly run of the mill cool lilac and the other is a gorgeous warm yellow gold. Apparently these go together? Is it 1985 again? Lovely formula though and the gold is well pigmented, the lilac however is not as good. In the swatches the gold is one swipe while the lilac took three to get it that bold.

NARS, Velvet Gloss lip pencil in ‘Club Mix’, RRP £19 I was so happy to see one of these in the box as I adore the NARS lip pencils, they always have great pigmentation and staying power. This shade happened to be pretty perfect for me which is something that hasn’t happened with any other beauty box, it’s a gorgeous muted berry tone with a slight gloss to it.

What a great box! I have to say I’m very impressed with this first box from ‘Look Incredible’ and will definitely keep it on for another month. I am seriously considering swapping Birchbox for this. What do you guys think? I can’t realistically keep on three boxes that’s for sure! Are any of you ‘Look Incredible’ subscribers?

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I eventually came to a decision, I decided to try out some of the foil from Born Pretty Store as I haven’t actually used transfer foil before. I’m quite pleased with the result too. I added some little gems to certain points in the design to jazz it up a bit, each nail is completely different to the next but at the same time matches perfectly.

I had no trouble using either the glue or the foil from Born Pretty, judging when the glue was ready to go was quite tough because I chose a white background but I got there. As with most lash glues it starts off white and you have to wait for it to go clear and tacky before application. For my top coat I used Lottie London ‘So Gel’ to provide a slightly thicker layer around my gems and help prevent knocking them off as well as to give a good shine. It’s supposed to look like gel polish but to my eye it doesn’t it just looks like normal top coat, it does wear very well though.

This is my dominant hand which rarely comes out as well as the other but it’s looking pretty good with this method. If you want an intricate design like this but aren’t great at free hand painting or stamping I would definitely recommend giving transfer foil a bash.

I think I’ll try and do a slightly more seasonal mani next time though, this is very summery but the weather outside is absolutely frightful! It’s blowing a gale strong enough to bend the trees double.

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I'm Kath; a qualified beauty therapist and make-up artist. I'm currently studying media make-up and special effects to add some more strings to my bow. I'm a "make-up geek" as my friends say and am also a bit obsessed with nail polish too! I use this site to share my love of make-up and beauty and skin care education.
I'm also a bendy-EDSer and a wheelchair user.
Portfolio website coming soon!
bendybeauty.com